Walk away. She's trying to bully you into overpaying and doing everything on her terms. She knows you want the horse, and she thinks you're a sucker.

Amend the contract to your original offer if you still want the horse. Tell her to take it or leave it. If she won't accept, then tell her 'thanks for your time, but I think I'll look elsewhere. In this economy, I can get a nicer animal for far less, and I just can't justify spending so much on this one.'

Wait a few days. Send a friend over to pose as a potential buyer and see what happens. If you have some cash on hand, perhaps the friend can offer that amount.

I bought a horse like this for a teenage girl who was getting suckered by the seller. The seller had agreed on a certain amount as a down payment, then kept raising the purchase price for hay, feed, farrier, etc. This girl was going to end up paying $1500 for a horse advertised for sale for $1000. In desperation, the girl's parents gave me $800 in cash, and I went to the seller's property to supposedly look at another horse for sale. An hour later, I loaded the girl's horse in my trailer with 10 bales of hay.

Cash talks. Sellers will often accept far less money if you have it in hand than if you want to work out payments.

Whatever you do, don't overextend yourself to get this horse back-- you'll regret it every day. If there's another offer on the table (which I doubt, sellers use that tactic all the time) then let them have the horse. Her asking for more money because that's what he'd be worth in a better economy is like me asking $3 million for our house because that's what it would be worth in parts of California instead of here in Podunk, Nowhere. It's a scam tactic. Best case scenario is that she wants more money for the horse. Worst case scenario is that she will ask for more and more money and won't even sell the horse, or will take you to court for something wrong with him before your payments are made and get even more out of you.

That being said, it's common practice for a horse to stay with the seller until it's been paid for in full. Around here, such arrangements are drawn up on paper, and usually have terms of the horse's costs will be shared equally by both parties, and that the animal be insured until paid for in full. Having the horse on your property before you've paid for it is unreasonable to me.

Last Edited By: dogsnhorses Aug 12 08 7:38 AM. Edited 1 times.